An opportunity to talk with like-minded females about work, life and technology, curated by Rachel and Katy from Caper.
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“Why are technology products still thought of as “boys’ toys” and tech ads often prevalent during football tournaments? More smartphones were bought by women than men in 2010 and a study out today by YouGov and Lady Geek has shown that 79% of women now have the biggest input when buying a new TV for the household.”
I am a 29 year old woman and I am a developer. My love for science and math since an early age developed naturally into a profound appreciation of engineering. I love coding and I love crafting with code. I’ve been in this field of work for so many years now, that I can’t imagine doing anything…
Today is International Women’s Day http://www.internationalwomensday.com
We have been hard at work creating a bespoke Tumblr site (and more) for Phenomenal People. The illustration in this post as been created by Badaude. There’s a set of five of them - MIA, Mary Seacole, Emmeline Pankhurst, Frida Kahlo and Eleanor Simmonds.
Fuel presents Phenomenal People, as part of the Women Of the World Festival 2012, is an amazing online resource of inspiring women throughout history to the present day. The Tumblr site shares the incredible stories and achievements from political activists to religious figures, astronauts to opera singers, war reporters to nurses. Discover, explore and join the discussion at http://phenomenalpeople.tumblr.com/
Phenomenal People - a celebration of inspiring women
9 - 11 March, as part of the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World Festival 2012
We have put in a proposal for Digital Shoreditch to run a Start-up Speed Mentoring event, co-produced with the British Library and Web Heroines.
Do you have a great idea and need help turning it a business? Changing direction in your career and starting out on your own?
Come and talk to our business mentors, speed-dating style, to get the advice you need. Our experts will include successful female entrepreneurs and advisors on intellectual property, communications, branding, strategy, creative collaboration and finance.
You’ll get the chance to hone your pitching skills in a friendly setting, gain tips on improving your business model and meet other like-minded people.
Is a woman’s opinion “the miniskirt of the internet”?
Created by Caper, Hosted by Specialmoves
Part of #ExHoSo & #smwlondon
Women in a Room is an opportunity to talk with like-minded females about work, life and technology.
This month, we’re referencing Laurie Penny’s article “A woman’s opinion is the mini-skirt of the internet”.
Do you lurk on the sidelines or effortlessly over-share? We’ll talk about whether social media is useful and empowering, or a risky business. Join us for the debate.
The evening will kick off with short talks from our invited speakers, giving their angle on the topic. Then we’ll gather in smaller groups to chat in more detail. There’ll be lots of time for drinking and mingling too. Our speakers this month are:
Kate Bussmann: writer, editor and compiler of the world’s first social media almanac, A Twitter Year: 365 Days in 140 Characters (Bloomsbury), which was published worldwide in December and captures a dramatic year in news, sport and culture through tweets. She has discussed how Twitter has changed the world on Radio 4’s Women’s Hour, Sky News and NPR, and has written for the Sunday Times, the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Telegraph, Stylist, Red and Grazia, and many more.
Julie Howell stakes her claim as one of social media’s founding mothers, having created one of the world’s first online communities in 1995. She has worked RNIB, Cabinet Office, BBC, Tesco and the British Bankers’ Association, developing digital policies that truly take into account the needs of disabled people. She is also author of the first British Standards specification on accessible web design. Today, Julie is a social media trainer and a mentor to women in technology. She is Brighton University’s ‘Alumnus of the Year’ 2012.
Thanks, Katy & Rachel
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Exmouth House Social is a week’s worth of inspiring social media happenings here at Exmouth House,curated by Specialmoves, Tempero, Mint Digital & Outside Line, as part of Social Media Week. www.exmouthhousesocial.com
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Would you like to hold a Women in a Room at your place of work? Get in touch with Rachel or Katy on hello@wearecaper.com
Women in a Room is a opportunity to talk with like-minded females about work, life and technology. This time we’re doing something a little different and going off on field trip to the Web Heroines mini-conference at the British Library. SOLD OUT!
But, not to worry, you are all welcome to join us at the (free, non-ticketed) social from 8:30pm at the Somers Town Coffee House Pub, located between London St Pancras and Euston at 60 Chalton Street, NW1 1HS.
Let us know you’re coming on our Eventbrite page.
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Recent reports suggest women make up only 12% of the UK design/tech workforce. Are women really not choosing this career path or is it a very interesting time for women who work in digital? Web Heroines are hosting an evening at the British Library debating the topic, as part of the Emerge Mini-Conference, and you’re invited! Panellists include:
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Thanks!
Rachel & Katy
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About Emerge & Web Heroines
Emerge is a mini-conference for women who love digital design and technology such as: graphics, web, mobile, apps, UX, UI and gaming. It’s a mostly online conference featuring live workshops and talks by awesome speakers based all over the world leading up to a super special evening panel debate hosted at the British Library in London which you can attend in person.
Web Heroines grew out of the need to inspire and encourage more women into design and technology. Web Heroines are passionate about increasing the number of women who work in design/tech, through training workshops, sparking innovation by knowledge sharing or through social gatherings. Our conference sessions are a great way to learn about something new, add a string to your bow or get actively debating your ideas, opinions and solutions.
For this month’s meet-up, we’re going to be looking at how women communicate with each other and ask, Do women learn better from other women? If you would like to come along, please sign-up via the Eventbrite. Rachel Gilmore will kick off the evening with a short talk about her work as a business coach and faciliator, working mainly within the creative industry. She will share a few examples of work she has recently been involved in:Tribe: a business support network for Independent Women Workers; and Women in Leadership: Group Mentoring initiated by Jude Kelly, Artistic Director at the Southbank Centre and sponsored by Cultural Leadership Programme. We’ll then move onto a discussion session where everyone can share their own experiences and discuss examples of learning from colleagues, contacts and role models.
As usual, we’ll supply some snacks and drinks, but please do bring a bottle of something if you fancy contributing. And a note on location - this month’s meet-up is being hosted at Harmonypark, 8 Orsman Road, N1 5QJ.
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Harmonypark is a digital agency based on East London’s Tech Canal. We call ourselves a cultural construction company because we actively try to evolve the way people interact with technology, and each other, in a relevant and engaging manner. We work together with other creative companies, entrepreneurs and investors to co-develop communications and business ideas in the form of web and mobile-based services and experiences
In addition to Katy Lindemann, Sharna Jackson and Mazz Mosley, we’re pleased to say that Kat Sommers will be speaking at Women in a Room on 19 October. This is what Kat (@dogwinters on Twitter) says about herself:
I’m a Development Producer in BBC Research & Development, working with designers and engineers on prototypes of new technology. Previously I’ve worked in content production and social media, and am now leaving to pursue freelance writing and producing. I am one third of social media and tech podcast Off the Wall Post (the female third).
So, just to recap. Drinks and chatting from 6.30; informal talks and group discussion from 7pm. Bring a bottle or a packet of biscuits (or whatever else you would like to consume).
See you next week!
Here’s more information about the three great speakers for next week’s event. They’ll each be talking about their experiences of being tech-ish women, plus there’ll be wine and some snacks and lots of opportunity for both group discussion and general chat.
There are still some places if you want to attend, so sign-up here. If you’d like to give a short talk about what you do at work - the good bits and the bad - then email at hello@wearecaper.com and include a short bio.
Katy Lindemann is a freelance strategist, who currently does a lot of digital strategy work but doesn’t tend to refer to herself as a digital strategist as she reckons it’s not helpful to think of digital as completely separate and silo-ed. As a freelancer she gets to wear lots of different planning hats, so has done projects as varied as digital strategy consulting for Vodafone Ireland, to iOS concepting for ASOS at Profero to experience planning & digital product strategy for HSBC at We Are Friday. She also likes cake, Muppets and is slightly obsessed with her Dymo labeller.
Mazz Mosley is a Technologist. She works in the realm of the website. She nurtures new code into life and helps ensure the Artfinder website delights its users.
In the last episode of Mazz’s worklife, she was at Glasses Direct and helped rebuild their site into a world of Python shiny whizz bang joy. She believes there is no such thing as a stupid question, unless it’s “are you a real developer?”.
Sharna Jackson joined Tate as Tate Kids Editor in 2007 where she developed the strategy for the brand and launched the site in 2008. Tate Kids aims to engage, entertain and (stealthily) educate 5-12s (and their gatekeepers) on British and international modern and contemporary art. Her focus is on games and interactive experiences. Tate Kids won the Best Youth Website Webby in 2009 and is also a triple Children’s BAFTA nominee with nods in the Animation, Learning Primary and Interactive categories in 2009 and 2010.
Sharna joined Tate from an educational communications agency where she produced on and offline learning resources for companies including E.ON, Cadbury and The British Army. She is also Founder of Seahorse, a children’s content creation consultancy.
Happy Ada Lovelace Day, one and all!
We’re very excited to have three great speakers lined up for the event on 19 October, each giving a short talk about what they do professionally.
We still have two free spots, so if you’d like to share some of your experiences, email us (Rachel and Katy) at hello@wearecaper.com, with a short bio and an indication of what you’d like to talk about.
We’d like to hear from people at all stages in their career, working with all aspects of technology, so whether you’re well established or just starting out, a Ruby developer or a marketing strategist, self-employed or working for a mega corp, or anything in between, there are sure to be common themes for us to chat about.
Anyway, the speakers:
Mazz Mosley, Technologist at Artfinder (@mnowster)
Katy Lindemann, Communications Strategist at Seemingly Unconnected (@katylindemann)
Sharna Jackson, Tate Kids Editor at Tate (@sharnajackson)
A few people have asked about timing - it will probably be something like this:
6.30 pm: arrivals and hellos (we’ll provide some wine and soft drinks, but feel free to bring a bottle of whatever you would like to drink)
7 to 7.45-ish: talks and general chat
7.45 to 8.30ish: general mingling
